The Bloomer Legacy: 1.9 The Essence of Coolness

Maranda shared her concerns about Isaac with Kirk, so he took his son on a little trip. He hoped if he makes Isaac understand his responsibilities, he’ll be able to talk some sense into him. The father and son went to see a new little house that has grown in the neighbourhood.

Kirk: “Isaac, I’d like to talk to you.”

Isaac: “Just a minute dad, I need to finish this round of blick block…”

“Don’t talk to me like this, young man,” Kirk snapped. “Your mother told me about your little gathering last night. You’re meant to lead Newcrest one day, and you’re acting like a brat, it’s time for you to start accepting some responsibility!”

Isaac sighed: “What is this all about dad?”

Kirk tries not to smile, but he’s too excited: “As you know Isaac, your task will be to create an affordable neighbourhood for future sims. Your mom and I managed to get some money saved up, so I decided to give you a head start! I had this first starter home built to help you get started!”

Isaac: “But dad, all this talk about the family legacy and being the leader of Newcrest is great, but… what about my legacy? What about what I want?”

Kirk looked at his son, bemused: “Do you not want to become a leader, son?”

Isaac: “The thing is, I’m not even sure I can do it.”

Kirk: “Nonsense! I know you are going to be great, and will build a successful foundation for generations to come! You can do the things you want, I know whatever you decide to do will turn out to be the right thing.”

Isaac: “How could you possibly know that dad?”

Kirk: “Because you’re my son.”

The conversation instilled peace in the Bloomer household, even though it might be just temporary. Kirk and Isaac spent the rest of the afternoon fishing, like in the old times.

For those of you curious about the starter home, here’s the layout. I am using the family’s actual funds to build the lower class neighbourhood, so I will be building the houses gradually.

As for Isaac, he sure had a lot to think about on his evening run. There were so many conflicting voices inside of him. He liked the idea of becoming a leader of the town and being the head of a big successful family, with his children admiring him. But at the same time, he had so much rage inside him, and couldn’t quite help but to secretly resent his parents for their questionable past and the burdens they were laying on him. What was he to do?

To take his mind of things, he started to spend more time with Juanita. With a bit of effort and many compliments (Juanita is a snob), Isaac managed to get back into her good books.

Very good books…

Isaac: “I’m such a stud!”

“Gotta document my awesome awesomeness!”

Maranda: “Isaac, who was that girl?”

Isaac: “I dunno mom, she just delivered the mail or something…”

Maranda tried to talk to Isaac again over dinner: “Isaac, we barely know anything about your life. You keep snapping at us and misbehaving all the time… I thought you and your father talked…”

Kirk looked away. He wasn’t sure if he did too well with his father son conversation the day he took Isaac to the starter home. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he should have built that starter home for his son at all. Truth to be said, he always assumed responsibility would come to Isaac naturally like it had to him, and he didn’t know how to handle the situation.

Isaac: “Chill out mom, it’s not like I’ve set my friend on fire. Oh wait, that was you!”

Maranda: “I’ve had it with you Isaac! If you think we owe you something, then fine, feel free to continue to judge us while all you’ve ever done in life was handed to you on a silver platter! And you Kirk aren’t helping either, I asked you to talk to him, not build a house for him!”

Maranda stormed off and slammed the door. Kirk and Isaac sat there uncomfortably, neither of them daring to say a word. Finally, Isaac got up and headed to the only getaway he had from his parents’ house, the park.

The first person he runs into is this new kid. Isaac immediately rushes over to introduce himself – the new kid seems to embody the essence of coolness. The name is Pace Bollinger.

Isaac: “You wouldn’t believe my family dude! My parents keep scolding me and pretending that they’re perfect, but I know they have a dark past.”

Pace: “You gotta relax man! Life is a breeze!”

Pace: “Just go along with the flow, groove to the beat like me!”

Isaac takes a sip of his drink and mimics Pace’s dance hand dance: “Just two cool guys, grooving to the beat!”

Pace: “Alright! Yeah we got it all, not like that loser over there in a dad jumper!”

Pace: “Don’t take it too personally loser, not everyone can be as cool as us!”

The boy walks away quickly, leaving the “cool” duo to celebrate.

Pace: “All right, you’re a pretty decent guy Isaac, we could do some serious damage together!”

Meanwhile, Maranda was at home alone, sipping a lemon cocktail. Her husband was probably out fishing, trying to avoid another confrontation, and her son was god knows where, as per usual. When has her life gotten so sour?

Thank you so much raerei! I had a hard time writing the last two chapters precisely because of the way Isaac turned out, so this compliment means a lot to me! I wouldn’t have chosen for Isaac to be this way, but I did figure it made sense in the context of all that happened…

I think this was a really tough time for Maranda. Kirk would be able to escape to his fishing and gardening and sort of pretend everything was fine in the house, but Maranda was too smart and sensitive to pretend nothing was wrong. I really felt for her!

I know I just said it…but your writing is really great. I love how well the pictures mesh with the writing. And Maranda–I want to hug that woman! I feel like her husband wants to do what’s best, but isn’t sure what that really is.

Oh I know, Maranda’s not had it easy. I felt so bad for her, everything in her life was wonderful and then it suddenly all spiralled out of control.

I think you’re right about Kirk, he’s a great guy, but really doesn’t know how to handle anything that’s not gardening or fishing. Feeding the family is no problem, but when it comes to raising Isaac, I think Kirk just sort of always assumed he would turn out perfect like Maranda, and did not quite know what to do when it wasn’t the case.